October 14, 2010

 

Aquaculture product exports in Chile down 13.4%

 

 

Chile's fishery and aquaculture products exports during the first seven months of 2010 reached a value of US$2045.4 million, down 13.4% over the same period in 2009, which raked in US$2362.9 million.

 

The volume of exports between January and July 2010 also dropped, by 36.2%, from 974,120 tonnes in 2009 to 621,800 tonnes this year, stated the Subsecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca).

 

This decline was mainly due to lower shipments of fishmeal and frozen products, which decreased by 48% and 30.2% respectively, according to the latest report on the Fishing and Aquaculture Sector by Subpesca. Sales of fishmeal and frozen products were the most voluminous, representing 37.7% and 36.4% of the total respectively.

 

The average price of fishery products exported between January and July was US$3.30 per kilogramme, which is 35.6% higher than the same period in 2009.

 

According to Subpesca statistics, the main export was rainbow trout, which contributed 23.2% of the total value of foreign sales. It was followed by Atlantic salmon and boneless pelagic fish.

 

Chilean products were destined for 110 countries, of which the nine major ones account for 79.5% of the total exports. Among them were Japan, US and China.

 

With respect to the extractive fishing sector, the accumulated value of fish exports (382,000 tonnes) arrived between January and July 2010 for US$777 million, reflecting a negative variation of 14.7% compared with the same period last year.

 

In the first seven months, 234,290 tonnes of fishmeal were sold abroad for US$401.8 million, while a year earlier they had exported 449,470 tonnes worth US$425.6 million.

 

The most important destinations for fishmeal were China, Japan, Spain, Canada and South Korea.

 

Of the total exported fishmeal, 47.4% was of a prime quality, 39% of super prime and 10.4% of standard.

 

Foreign sales of frozen seafood products totaled US$196.2 million, which represented a decrease of 33.7% over the same period in 2009. These products were mainly sent to the US, Spain and Peru, with shares in value of 24.5%, 15.4% and 10.1% respectively.

 

Exports from the aquaculture sector accounted for 62% of the total value of foreign sales and 38.6% of total exports between January and July this year, with US$1.268 million and about 240,000 tonnes. These figures represent a decrease of 12.6% in value and 28.3% in volume when compared with the same period in 2009.